Gutter guard

ABSTRACT

A rain gutter guard comprises a downward leg for abutting gutter hangers when the guard is urged down into the gutter. A shoulder of the guard accommodates the shoulder of the gutter hangers. A front attachment flap secures the front of the guard to the gutter while the rear is retained by friction fit of an angled segment against the building fascia. An upstanding wall separates the central portion from the attachment flap. The central portion is inclined rearward and the attachment flap inclines to the front.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to gutter guards used to prevent debris fromclogging a rain gutter.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Gutter guards include a perforated planar surface that spans the raingutter opening to allow water to drain into the gutter while preventingdebris from doing so. The front of the guard is usually secured orretained on the front lip of the gutter, for example by means offasteners, a clip system or by shaping the front edge of the guard suchthat it is physically engaged on or under the lip.

In some cases, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,614,185 to Brochu,the guard is designed to seat in a recessed position in the gutter. Suchan arrangement creates a lip or wall at the front of the guard to stopfast moving water from simply flowing across the guard and to theground, which risks defeating the purpose of the gutter. Despite thefront lip or wall formed by a recessed gutter guard, large quantities offast-flowing water from the roof can overwhelm the apertures in theforward portion of the guard where accumulating water can spill over thefront lip of the recessed gutter guard before it can drain through theapertures.

Older-style prior art rain gutters are typically secured to the fasciaof the building by a spike and ferrule system in which a nail or spikeis inserted into a ferrule extending from the front of the gutter andthrough the rear wall of the gutter, so as to embed in the fascia. Spikeand ferrule systems usually involve unthreaded nails or spikes that maynot provide a secure fastening to the fascia and are sometimes difficultto install, particularly for do-it-yourselfers. More recently, the useof gutter hangers has become the preferred means of installing gutters.Gutter hangers extend between the front and rear walls of the gutter anda wall screw is inserted through the hanger, through its rear wall andinto the fascia. Gutter hangers are provided at spaced locations alongthe length of the gutter as illustrated in FIG. 1. The present applicantsupplies gutter hangers with a pre-installed threaded fastener tofacilitate installation.

However, gutter hangers present a potential obstacle to installation ofrecessed gutter guards. Guards are typically manufactured inpredetermined lengths of roll-formed product having a uniform profilealong their lengths. As some gutter hangers have shoulders near the toprear of the gutter, the presence of the shoulders inhibits the abilityto install a guard any deeper into the gutter than the height of thegutter hangers. For example, Canadian Patent No. 2,597,976 to Brochudiscloses a guard that includes a planar top portion and a rear wallthat extends along the rear of the gutter to support the guard on thebottom of the gutter. The presence of the rear wall renders thedisclosed system unusable with gutter hangers that have a shoulder asthe rear wall of the guard would be impeded by the hangers.

The rear of the guard may be secured by fasteners or it may passivelyabut either the rear of the gutter, the fascia or in some cases bewedged under the shingles of the roof. The use of fasteners at the rearof the guard increases the chance of water seepage into the underlyingfascia of the building. US Patent Publication No. US 2009/0031638 tolannelli avoids the use of fasteners at the rear of the guard by wedgingthe guard between the roof structure and the roof shingles. Thatapproach is obviously labour intensive, requires skill, risks snappingthe shingles if they are brittle and may be difficult to achieve afterconstruction of the roof has been completed. It is also limited by theproximity of the roof line to the gutter, which may vary from buildingto building and allows rainwater to shoot off the front of the gutters.

US Patent Publication No. US 2009/0108144 to Brochu discloses a passiveabutment of an angled rear portion of the guard against the fascia or ahook that engages the rear wall of the gutter. Such passive supportsystems have the advantage of being easy to install and of not requiringadditional fasteners or specialized tools. However such systems run therisk of improper installation if the rear of the guard is pushed downhard enough to seat the rear of the guard below its most effectiveheight. The same result can follow from the weight of snow or ice. Thiscan result in bending of the guard along its length or if installed toolow, obstruction of the flow of water along the gutter.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a partially recessedroll-formable gutter guard that is easy to install in conjunction withgutter hangers. Another object of the invention is to avoid the use offasteners at the rear of the guard. It is a further object of theinvention to minimize the accumulation of water at the front of thegutter guard.

These and other objects of the invention will be better understood byreference to the detailed description of the preferred embodiment whichfollows. Note that not all of the objects are necessarily met by allembodiments of the invention described below or by the invention definedby each of the claims.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the invention, a gutter guard comprises adownwardly extending support leg that is designed to rest on all stylesof gutter hangers and to provide longitudinal rigidity to the guard. Ina related aspect, the leg is omitted for a short distance adjacent aside edge of the guard or the side edge is provided with a notch toaccommodate the support leg, thereby permitting lengths of gutter guardto be joined in partially overlapping relationship in the gutter.

The support leg also serves to provide longitudinal rigidity to theguard which facilitates handling and facilitates the use of a frictionfit of the rear of the guard with the fascia.

According to an aspect of the invention, the friction fit is facilitatedby an upwardly angled rear end of the guard, the upward angle alsocontributing to directing water away from the fascia.

In another aspect of the invention, the guard includes a rear shoulderportion to accommodate the shoulder of the gutter hangers in the eventthat the gutter hangers have a rear shoulder, while still allowing theprincipal planar surface of the guard to be recessed or partiallyrecessed within the gutter. In a more particular aspect, the inventioncomprises the arrangement of the walls forming the shoulder.

In another aspect, a flat attachment face is provided at the front ofthe guard for overlying and securing it to the front lip of the gutter.

In a further aspect, the central planar portion of the guard has aslight rearward sloping angle to flow water away from the front lip ofthe guard to avoid the accumulation of water near the front lip and anupstanding wall is provided between the central portion and theattachment flap to discourage water from flushing over the front lip ofthe gutter.

The attachment flap is angled slightly downward from back to front todirect water off the attachment face and to maintain a more closelyflush line when viewed from the front of the building. A forwarddownward angle to the top wall of the rear shoulder assists in isolatingthe connection between the fascia and the hanger wall screw from water.

In yet another aspect, the invention comprises a rain gutter guardadapted for use in a recessed position within a gutter that is mountedto a building wall by a series of spaced gutter hangers. The gutterguard comprises a porous surface for substantially spanning the width ofthe gutter and includes a leg extending downward from the surface and isadapted to rest on the gutter hangers when the gutter guard is urgeddownward within the gutter.

In another aspect, the invention is an assembly of a rain gutter and agutter guard comprising a series of spaced gutter hangers for mounting agutter to a vertical building surface. The gutter guard has a poroussurface that substantially spans the width of the gutter and a legextending downward from the surface and adapted to rest on the gutterhangers when the gutter guard is urged downward within the gutter. Thesupport leg extends downward a distance substantially less than thedepth of said gutter.

In a method aspect, the invention comprises a method of installing agutter guard on a rain gutter that is secured to a vertical buildingsurface by a series of spaced gutter hangers. A gutter guard asdescribed above is installed such that the leg rests on the gutterhangers and a rear edge of the gutter guard is substantially proximal toa rear edge of said gutter.

Other aspects of the invention relate to the presence of an upwardlyangled segment at the rearmost end of the guard for resilient abutmentagainst the building wall, the particular inclination of the centralportion, an angle provided to the attachment flap, an angle provided toa second wall forming a part of the shoulder, and an angle provided fora rearmost segment of the guard.

The foregoing was intended as a broad summary only and of only some ofthe aspects of the invention. It was not intended to define the limitsor requirements of the invention. Other aspects of the invention will beappreciated by reference to the detailed description of the exemplarypreferred embodiment and to the claims by which the invention isdefined.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described by reference to the detailed descriptionof the preferred embodiment and to the drawings thereof in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective front view of a typical gutter showing aplurality of gutter hangers according to the prior art;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a gutter, a gutter hanger and a gutterguard according to the preferred embodiment, installed in the gutter;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the gutter guard of the preferredembodiment;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a gutter, gutter hanger and a gutterguard according to the preferred embodiment installed in the gutter. Forclarity, the apertures in the guard are not shown in this view; and,

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the guard.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The following describes a preferred implementation of the inventiveconcepts of the invention. There may of course be various other mannersof embodying the same inventive concepts and this section of thespecification therefore does not purport to describe the full extent orscope of the invention but merely to illustrate the preferred embodimentthereof.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art gutter 10 with gutterhangers 12, 14, 16 being provided at spaced locations to secure thegutter to the fascia of a building. The preferred embodiment of gutterhangers are available with pre-installed wall screws 18, 20, 22 that arescrewed through the rear wall 24 of the gutter and into the fascia ofthe building (the fascia is not shown in the drawings). A fasteningshoulder 36 is provided in the gutter hanger to retain and align thewall screws to the rear of the gutter 10. While not all gutter hangershave such a shoulder, one feature of the preferred embodiment of theinvention is best appreciated by reference to gutter hangers havingshoulders as shown.

FIGS. 2 and 4 are views of a gutter 10 with gutter hangers 12, 14, 16,and a gutter guard 26 according to the preferred embodiment while FIG. 3is a side elevation of the gutter guard 26 according to the preferredembodiment.

In this description, the portion of the guard and gutter that areadjacent the fascia of the building will be referred to as the “back” or“rear” and the portions distal from the fascia will be referred to asthe “front” or “forward” portions.

Guard 26, which is formed as a single piece of extruded or roll-formedmaterial, includes a downwardly extending leg 28 adapted to either restdirectly on the gutter hangers 12, 14, 16 or to abut them when the guardis urged down into the gutter (for example by the installer, duringcleaning or under the weight of snow or ice). Leg 28 also serves toprovide longitudinal rigidity to the guard that facilitates handling oflong segments of guard and facilitates a friction fit installation ofthe guard by pressing its rearmost end against the fascia of thebuilding. The support leg 28 extends downward a distance substantiallyless than the depth of the gutter 10.

The rear of the guard 26 forms a shoulder 34 to provide clearance forthe fastening shoulders 36 of the gutter hangers and their associatedwall screws. Shoulder 34 is formed by a first upwardly inclined wall 30and a second upwardly inclined top wall 32 extending rearward from thefirst inclined wall 30.

According to the preferred embodiment, leg 28 is formed at the juncturebetween the central planar surface 42 and the upwardly inclined wall 30.

The guard 26 is therefore adapted to be easily positioned in the gutterby resting leg 28 on the gutter hangers 12, 14, 16 so as to recess theguard within the gutter without interference from the hanger shoulders36 while also avoiding the risk of inserting it too deep into the gutter10 during installation. During installation, the rearmost end of theguard is disposed such that it is substantially proximal to a rear edgeof the gutter 10.

The front end of the guard 26 is formed to provide a flat attachmentflap 34 that provides a surface for securement to the underlying gutterlip 37, for example by means of a screw 38. At the rear of the guard,top wall 32 terminates in a segment 40 that is angled upward at about45° to allow bending and resilient abutment for a friction fit to thefascia boards.

In the preferred embodiment, central planar portion 42 extends forwardlyfrom leg 28. Central portion 42, diagonal wall 30 and top wall 32 areeach provided with a regular pattern of apertures 46 to create a poroussurface. Central portion 42 acts as the principal drainage surface ofthe guard 26. Preferably an upstanding wall 44 is provided betweenplanar portion 42 and attachment flap 34 to contain water flowing fromthe roof and to prevent it from spilling over the forward lip 37 of thegutter.

Planar portion 42 has a slight (between 1° and 3°, preferably 1.5°)rearward incline to promote the rearward flow of water. Top wall 32 isinclined upward at an angle of between 1.5° and 4°, preferably 3°, fromfront to back. The slight incline of the top wall 32 is designed to keepwater from migrating toward the fascia of the building.

The attachment flap 34 extends downwardly from back to front at an angleof between 3° and 7°, preferably about 5°, in order to direct water tothe front of the gutter and to provide an approximately flush line whenviewed from in front of the building.

In order to avoid the risk posed by sharp edges during handling, theattachment flap 34 is folded over at its end to provide a smooth forwardedge. Similarly the tip 48 of rear edge 40 is preferably rounded for thesame reason and to avoid scoring of the fascia.

In installing gutter guards end to end along a gutter, gaps between theguards should be avoided. In the case of gutter guards that are flushstackable, this is achieved by simply overlapping the guards. However,the presence of leg 28 prevents the guards from overlapping in a flushrelationship. In order to accommodate partial overlapping of the ends ofthe guards, the leg 28 is omitted from a short segment of at least oneend of the guard and is replaced by a slot 50 of sufficient width toaccommodate the leg of an adjacent guard, as illustrated in FIG. 5. Thisallows partial flush overlapping of the guards during installation in agutter. Alternatively, the leg 28 can simply be omitted from a shortsegment and the gutter guard from which the leg 28 is omitted can besimply overlaid on the side adjacent guard.

Similarly, a portion of the upstanding wall 44 and the attachment flap34 is omitted along a short segment 52 to allow overlapping of end toend adjacent guards.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the preferredand alternative embodiments have been described in some detail but thatcertain modifications may be practiced without departing from theprinciples of the invention, the scope of which is defined principallyby the claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A rain gutter guard made of a single pieceof perforated sheet metal, bent into a shape from front to rear andadapted for use in a recessed position within a gutter, said gutterbeing mounted to a building wall by a series of spaced gutter hangers,each gutter hanger having a mounting shoulder proximal to said buildingwall, and an arm extending away from said shoulder in a direction awayfrom said building wall, said gutter guard comprising: a front,comprising a substantially flat attachment flap adapted to overlie afront lip of said gutter and wherein said sheet metal is foldedunderneath itself in a 180° turn, to form a front most edge that is ametal fold and therefore blunt; a substantially planar porous centralweb portion extending rearward from said front; a rear portioncomprising a shoulder extending rearwardly and upwardly in relation tosaid central web portion, and shaped and positioned to rest on saidmounting shoulders of said gutter hangers; and a leg extendingdownwardly from said central web portion, said leg adapted to rest onsaid arms of said gutter hangers, at a location displaced from saidmounting shoulders of said gutter hangers, when said gutter guard isurged downward within said gutter.
 2. The rain gutter guard according toclaim 1 wherein said gutter guard is shaped so that when said shoulderrests on said mounting shoulders of said gutter hangers said central webportion is recessed within said gutter.
 3. The rain gutter guardaccording to claim 1 wherein said shoulder comprises a first diagonalwall extending rearward from said central web portion and a second wallextending substantially rearward from said first diagonal wall.
 4. Therain gutter guard according to claim 1 wherein a rearmost end of saidgutter guard comprises an upwardly angled segment for resilient abutmentagainst said building wall and wherein a rearmost segment of saidrearmost end, is a downward fold in said sheet metal so that a rearmostedge of said gutter guard is blunt.
 5. The rain gutter guard accordingto claim 1 further comprising an upstanding wall between said front andsaid central web portion.
 6. The rain gutter guard according to claim 1wherein said attachment flap is attached to said central web portion bya portion in which said sheet metal is bent upwardly, and thendownwardly through a 180° turn and extends downwardly from said 180°turn until it undergoes a turn to a substantially horizontal rearwarddirection.
 7. The rain gutter guard according to claim 1 wherein saidcentral web portion has a rearward downward inclination.
 8. The raingutter guard according to claim 7 wherein said inclination is between 1°and 3°.
 9. The rain gutter guard according to claim 3 wherein saidsecond wall extends rearward and upward at a slight angle.
 10. The raingutter guard according to claim 9 wherein said angle is between 1.5° and4°.
 11. The rain gutter guard according to claim 1 wherein saidattachment flap has a slight angle to the horizontal.
 12. The raingutter of claim 11 wherein said angle is between 3° and 7°.
 13. The raingutter guard according to claim 1 wherein a rearmost end of said gutterguard comprises a segment at an angle of approximately 45° for resilientfrictional abutment against said building wall.
 14. The rain gutterguard of claim 1 wherein a portion of said leg has been omitted forshort distance from a side edge of said gutter guard to allow partialoverlapping of adjacent gutter guards.
 15. The rain gutter guard ofclaim 1, wherein said downwardly extending leg is formed by a series ofbends in said web, in a path defined by said web extending from saidwall, a first bend of said series causing said web to extendsubstantially downwardly along said path, a second bend causing said webto extend substantially upwardly along said path, and a third bendcausing said web to extend substantially horizontally along said path,said web between said second and third bend abutting said web betweensaid first and second bend.